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| I love old, amateurish, slick/insert covers! |
One of the fun things to collect bootlegs is to be able to enj
oy a wide variety of cover sleeves irrespective of whatever they look like (excellent, mediocre or awful). Although professionally manufactured color sleeves of 1980's bootlegs are attractive, I rather have a preference for slick or insert covers when it comes to vinyl bootlegs. It's because, along with rubber-stamped covers, that's the way these stuff came out originally. In other words, the amateurish appearance of many of slick covers represents what vinyl bootlegs were supposed to be
in the first place. Thankfully, these days second-hand vinyl bootlegs are available at much cheaper than they used to be in the 1970's through 1980's when the bootleg industry was at the height of its prosperity (for one example of such a purchase, see a past blog post
here).
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| No one but me was interested in this classic boot? |
Last month, I obtained an original, pristine copy of
THERE AIN'T NOBODY HERE FROM BILLBOARD TONIGHT also known simply as
THE ROXY, a double LP released 43 years ago on
Hoffman Avenue Records. It was sold on
Yahoo! JAPAN auction
in original shrink-wrapped condition. The opening bid was 500 Yen
(approximately US $4.66 according to the current exchange rate) and I
won the auction without competition. Though luckily, this was somewhat an unexpected result, which made me feel as if there were no serious vinyl Bruceleg collectors out here but me!
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Two famous deadwax inscriptions BRUCE I WANT YOUR BILLBOARD! on Side 1 and CATCH ME IF YOU CAN — V. V. on Side 4. The other sides have two hand-etched dedications THIS SIDE FOR MELINDA (Side 2) and THIS SIDE FOR SEAN & MARK (Side 3).
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Vicky Vinyl is credited, together with Eagle Eye,
as the bootleg producers (also shown here). |
Although for most part of the blog readers I don't think this classic title needs thorough introduction, it is purportedly the second ever Springsteen bootleg capturing the early show that was broadcast live by KWEST-FM from the Roxy Theater, Hollywood, CA on October 17, 1975. It was the Summer/1987 issue (
#21) of the
Backstreets magazine from which I first obtained substantial information on this bootleg (Remember we didn't have internet at that time and in my case, such information was available only from literature). As I already mentioned in the previous
blog post, an anonymous reader called
Eagle Eye (whose identity is almost certainly Mr.
Lou Cohan who made the bootleg) left quite critical comments on an article about a
history of Bruceleg that was featured on the previous issue (
#20). His criticism mainly argued against the release order of pioneering Brucelegs, what exactly
Vicky Vinyl was involved in the album production, and how she felt about Springsteen. Following is a partial transcription of his description after explaining
THE JERSEY DEVIL (for which a short note
here) as the first ever Springsteen bootleg:
The second Springsteen bootleg was "There Ain’t Nobody Here From Billboard, Tonight," also on Hoffman Avenue Records. It was pressed in November of 1975 and Vicky Vinyl's only input was having "Catch me if you can" scratched
into vinyl on one side of the sides and putting up half the money for the initial pressing. She never admired Bruce. She couldn’t stand him before he and CBS busted her, so you can imagine how she feels about today.
If what is written is true, it is interesting that the bootleg production has completed in rather a short time (it took only about one month after the original broadcast date?). As you might already know, you can also refer to
this post on
THE AMAZING KORNYFONE LABEL blog which is more informative although there she was reported to put up 1/4 rather than 1/2 of the money for the album production. The
TAKRL blog post also reports that this bootleg is supposedly the third, but not the second, to have appeared on collectors' market following the famous
Coral Records version of
LIVE. This point is still controversial and there is yet another view (for example, see Hobbes's comment
here).
— To be continued.
Different edition with yellow cover is on eBay now
ReplyDeleteThanks for your info. Wanna add the variant copy (repressed by V. V.) to my collection only if the price ($99.95) falls to much lower. It's way expensive...
DeleteJust stumbled on this article. I am the Melinda side 2 was dedicated to 🥰 And Side 1 was dedicated to SEAN (not Jean) and Mark.
DeleteWow — if that’s really you, what an unexpected and wonderful surprise! Thank you so much for leaving this comment.
DeleteAnd thank you also for correcting the dedication — “SEAN,” not “Jean.” That’s exactly the kind of detail collectors like me love to learn.
I’d genuinely love to hear more about the story behind the dedication and your connection to the record, if you’d be willing to share. Moments like this are one of the reasons I keep writing about these old bootlegs and records.
Thanks again for stopping by!
My dad and Lou Cohan were best friends who grew up together on Hoffman Ave. in Trenton New Jersey. My dad was an anonymous co-producer with Lou. My mom and a handful of family friends also contributed. I was born in 1975, the same year as this album, thus the dedication. Lou’s sons Sean and Mark were a few years older than me and got the dedication on the other side. I am going to talk with my dad some more in the next couple days and see what else I can share with you . Funny side note: I was always WILDLY jealous of Bruce my entire childhood because he was the only person that could steal my parents attention away from me (their only child). It is known in my family that I still think of him as an “annoying older brother” 😉 I did however always have a soft spot for his recording of “Pretty Flamingo” because my mom would change the words to “Pretty Melinda”
DeleteThank you so much for sharing this incredible story. As a collector and longtime fan, I honestly find details like these absolutely fascinating — and I know many readers of my blog would feel exactly the same way.
DeleteKnowing that your father and Lou Cohan grew up together on the legendary "Hoffman Avenue" in Trenton, and that your family quietly helped bring this record to life, adds such a human dimension to an album that has become almost mythical among collectors over the years, as the second-ever Springsteen bootleg. And now the mystery of the dedications to Melinda, Sean, and Mark finally makes perfect sense! I just confirmed Sean’s spelling on my copy, which Cohan sold to me decades ago along with several other Springsteen bootlegs produced by him and other bootleggers.
Your “annoying older brother” comment about Bruce genuinely made me smile. That is probably one of the most unique and personal Bruce Springsteen stories I have ever heard. And the “Pretty Melinda” memory is honestly sweet — those kinds of family memories are far more meaningful than matrix numbers and pressing variations.
I would love to hear anything else you and your dad might remember or feel comfortable sharing. Stories like this help preserve the real history behind these old records in a way that discographies never can.
Thank you again — this has truly been a delight to read.
P.S. Out of curiosity, do the names “CHAR” or “CAROL” ring a bell? Cohan’s first Springsteen bootleg, The Jersey Devil — also released in 1975 — was dedicated to them, and the names are inscribed in the deadwax.
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DeleteHi, I’ve been enjoying your conversations with my daughter Melinda and she suggested I chime in to identify myself as the carol inscribed on the jersey devil. At 78 it’s fun to look back on those faraway days. It would never have occurred to us that someday, in a very small way, history would have it’s eye on us as the say in Hamilton.
ReplyDeleteMelinda ended up being linked with Springsteen even before she was born. We saw our first Bruce concert in 1974 at the Tower movie theatre outside of Philadelphia. We were very frequent concert goers but this concert was incomparable. My husband described it in a letter to Lou ,who was in California, which ended up being reprinted for the jersey devil record. I was pregnant and the baby reacted by moving for the first time during Sandy. We already had boy and girl names chosen but thought for a while of naming the baby Sandy. We decided the baby would have a non Bruce related name but ironically we found out years later that Bruce had published an early song with the name Melinda in the title.
When Lou heard Bruce for the first time he mentioned he was so blown away that he brought a second copy of the wild,the innocent,and the e street shuffle so he could put it on the turntable back to back and lie on the couch and listen to it straight through without having to interrupt the record by getting up to turn it over. That always struck me.. I noticed when I looked at my copy of ain’t nobody here from billboard tonight that the record is numbered with one record sides one and four and the other record sides two and three. It struck me that Lou did that to ensure a fans first listen could be hearing the concert straight through just like they were at the Roxy themselves.
Thank you so much for writing — I honestly do not know how to express how meaningful it is for me to read this.
DeleteFor collectors like me, records such as The Jersey Devil (the first-ever Springsteen bootleg!) have long existed as almost mysterious artifacts, surrounded by stories, speculation, and “lore.” To suddenly hear directly from someone whose name is actually inscribed in the deadwax feels genuinely extraordinary. Your memories give these records a human warmth that no discography or collector’s guide could ever capture.
I was especially moved by Melinda reacting for the first time during “Sandy.” That is such a beautiful and almost unbelievably perfect Springsteen-related memory. By the way, according to Brucebase, Springsteen performed at the Tower Theater three times in 1974 — September 20, November 1, and November 2 — and all three shows included “Sandy.” Do you happen to remember which date you attended? If it was the November 1 show, a recording actually survives online, so in a sense you can revisit that very evening fifty years later:
https://archive.org/details/bs1974-11-01.aud.big-a.jems.flac16/1-01.+Incident+On+57th+Street.flac
Your story about Lou buying a second copy of The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle also struck me deeply. It says so much about how profoundly Bruce’s music affected people in those early days. At the same time, it reveals something wonderfully passionate and single-minded about Lou himself.
And I completely agree with your interpretation of the unusual side sequencing on Ain’t Nobody Here from Billboard Tonight. I had also noticed the 1/4 and 2/3 side couplings before and assumed Lou may have been inspired by the format sometimes used for syndicated radio-show LPs, where sides were arranged to preserve the uninterrupted flow of the performance. But hearing your perspective transformed that unusual sequencing from a technical curiosity into something much more personal and intentional.
I also smiled at your reference to Hamilton — because in a small but very real way, history really does have its eyes on all of you now. For many Bruce fans and collectors around the world, these vinyl artifacts are legendary, and the people behind them have become part of the larger Springsteen story.
Thank you again, truly, for sharing these wonderful memories with me. It has been an absolute privilege to hear them.
Thank you for your kindness. Not sure which night it was but I’ll definitely look up that reference. I just remember him doing then he kissed me and the memory of him coming on stage with big, pirate hoop earrings, something you just never saw on guys back then. It was a magical night.
ReplyDeleteThank you again for sharing these wonderful memories. The image of Bruce coming on stage with those big pirate-style hoop earrings is amazing. It really must have felt like a magical night.
DeleteJust in case they may be of interest, here are some useful references to the 1974 Tower Theater shows listed on Brucebase:
9/20/74: http://brucebase.wikidot.com/gig:1974-09-20-tower-theater-philadelphia-pa
11/1/74: http://brucebase.wikidot.com/gig:1974-11-01-tower-theater-philadelphia-pa
11/2/74: http://brucebase.wikidot.com/gig:1974-11-02-tower-theater-philadelphia-pa
Not many people today can say they actually witnessed the brief era when the violinist Suki Lahav performed with Bruce and the band. Honestly, I’m a little jealous that you experienced those shows firsthand, because that period has always fascinated me — as you can probably tell from my blog entries about the February ’75 Main Point bootleg You Can Trust Your Car to the Man Who Wears the Star.
By the way, if you’re comfortable sharing, do you happen to know who drew the cartoons on the slick covers of Lou Cohan’s two bootlegs, The Jersey Devil and Hot Coals ... ? I’ve always thought, “Those are exactly what bootleg covers should look like.” So many bootleg covers from the mid-1980s onward became increasingly colorful and professional-looking. Still, to me, they lost some of the mystery and charm of those earlier handmade-style covers.
Thank you.carol here. Speaking about this with someone who finds These memories from over a half century ago interesting is a bit of an unexpected trip I must say. I assume you also have to translate my ramblings into Japanese which is mind boggling to me. Memories are just flooding back. The original jersey devil drawing combining a century old legend from the New Jersey pine barrens and who we felt was going to be another New Jersey legend was Lou’s concept. We asked a friend of ours who was the wife of a high school and college bestie of Melinda’s dad to translate that into a visual image - fast. She was a gifted artist and a high school art teacher in New Jersey. She of course didn’t get paid. The $500 we were contributing to “produce Bruce’s next record” was a scary expenditure for a young couple who had just become a one income family after the birth of Melinda. Still we all were Bruce fans and this was an exciting and unexpected opportunity to share our love of the music. You obviously understand labors of love!
ReplyDeleteAlthough she only was identified on the album as “rich w’s wife whatever her name is”- her name was Ann and she has since passed away. It is rather amazing that all she got for this drawing, which has since been reproduced thousands of times, was a copy of the album. I feel happy to be able to acknowledge her contribution after all these years.
I also just contacted Joe H.’s family, who was mentioned on the ain’t album, cause I really couldn’t remember what his involvement was. His wife Reneta reminded me that though we had taped the wmmr main point radio concert on our reel to reel tape deck (since this was all pre cassette reel to reels were expensive and pretty rare), Joe had to hook up his tape deck to Dave’s tape deck to make the copy to send to Louie. As everyone knows our tape was missing a number of seconds of the first song,thunder road, and it was my call to splice in (badly) the beginning of the song from the brand new born to run album.
Dear Carol,
DeleteOnce again, thank you so much for sharing these incredible memories. Every message from you feels like a hidden piece of Springsteen history coming back to life!
It’s amazing that memories from more than half a century ago can still resonate with someone on the other side of the world. Not only me, but many Japanese fans and collectors as well, would be absolutely fascinated by your stories. Although I do not currently have a Japanese-language version of my blog, I hope to launch one after I retire from my current job — though probably not for at least a few more years!
I loved hearing the backstory behind “The Jersey Devil” artwork. When I first got online in the mid-90s, “Jersey Devil” was one of the very first things I searched for because I had no idea what it actually meant. Knowing the story behind the cover and finally learning who created the artwork makes it even more special to me — and to many bootleg collectors as well.
Your story about contributing $500 toward Bruce’s next record was also deeply moving. It perfectly captures the spirit of those early days — not an industry, but pure passion and love for the music. As Bruce himself once said, these records truly were labors of love.
And the “Wings for Wheels” edit story is extraordinary! Every collector knows that awkward splice, but I never imagined I’d hear directly from the person who actually came up with the idea to patch it. That imperfect edit just makes the record feel even more human and authentic.
Since I come from the cassette-tape generation, I had no idea how difficult or expensive it was to work with open-reel tapes. Hearing how Joe H. and your husband worked together to make the copy really made me appreciate the dedication behind these recordings — it brings home the practical challenges they faced.
I have also come to realize what a huge role you played in bringing this historic album into the world — not only helping finance it, but also finding the artist for the cover and even helping patch together the incomplete recording itself. It’s thrilling to see the anonymous contributors listed on those slick inserts finally get their spotlight, and to watch their respective roles come to light, almost as if history itself were slowly being unraveled.
Thank you again for trusting me with these precious memories. I truly appreciate it.
Manattop
P.S. Did Ann also contribute to the cover artwork for *Hot Coals …*? That double album remains one of the most magical live Springsteen bootlegs ever made.
I have to make a correction. Your close up of the jersey devil cover in your June 1 2026 posting refreshed my memory. Though “beady eye” did go to Ann H. For help in bringing “eagle eye’s” jersey devil cover concept to fruition, I now recall that one of her art students volunteered to create the cover. That is the Carlos who signed the drawing and deserves the credit. Hopefully he at least got a copy of the album too! I’m afraid I’m not sure I ever had any details about him and I can’t even remember what New Jersey high school Ann taught at. Really we would never have expected these details to be of interest to anyone outside our small circle of friends and especially not the fbi! We just saw ourselves as conduits for getting the music out back in those no internet and not even cassette recorder days. I also have no recollection if he also did the coals from a fiery furnace album.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the correction—and please don't worry about it. We are talking about events from over 50 years ago, so it is natural that details come back little by little. In fact, I find it fascinating how one memory sparks another, gradually bringing the whole picture into focus.
DeleteI am so glad that the enlarged image in my June 1 blog post helped refresh your memory. It is incredibly meaningful to me that these old records not only preserve the music but also revive memories that might otherwise have been lost. So, Carlos deserves the credit for the Jersey Devil artwork after all! It’s nice to know that his name can finally be connected with his work after all these years.
Your mention of the FBI brought a smile to my face. I can assure you that the only investigation happening here is a harmless one conducted by overly enthusiastic Springsteen collectors! None of us could have imagined that details like who drew the cover of The Jersey Devil would still be a topic of discussion more than half a century later.
What strikes me most is how modestly you and your friends viewed your involvement back then. You simply saw yourselves as fans helping to get the music out to other fans. Yet those efforts created records that became a vital part of the history of collecting. That contrast is one of the things I find most fascinating about this journey.
Please don't worry if the details about Hot Coals remain uncertain. You have already shared far more than I ever expected to learn.
Thank you once again for taking the time to write.